Woman was days away from marrying her fiancé. Then armed police suddenly raid their home in the middle of the night: ‘Am I about to marry a killer?’

A bride-to-be was just a week away from her big day when armed police officers suddenly surrounded the apartment she shared with her fiancé and tried to detain her fiancé. The incident was shared by Sabri (@sabridigenn), who recalled the confusing ordeal in a video that has since gained over a million views on TikTok.

According to Sabri, she and her fiancé were asleep when they were awoken by unfamiliar sounds at around midnight. They later identified the sounds as coming from a megaphone, and officers were allegedly outside their apartment, instructing her fiancé to come outside with his hands in the air.

Sabri initially believed the officers were pulling a prank on the couple ahead of their wedding, as her fiancé was also an officer. However, she realized that may not be the case when she said she noticed there were around 15 officers wearing their full gear and armed with assault rifles pointed at her fiancé. “They’re yelling at him to put his hands higher in the sky and get down on the floor, and turn around and all that,” Sabri said.

Sabri says police made a mistake

Sabri immediately began thinking of the worst-case scenario for reasons why armed police were demanding her fiancé’s presence. “Am I about to marry a killer? Am I about to watch my future, soon-to-be husband get unalived?” Sabri recalled. “Are they just gonna take him and leave me here confused?”

The officers, however, also called Sabri’s name through the megaphone. Just like her fiancé, she was ordered to come out with her hands in the air, and guns were allegedly pointed at her before she was forced to sit on the ground. “Who lives in your apartment? How long have you lived there? Who lived there before you?” the officers questioned Sabri, according to her account.

At that point, Sabri described having a “full-blown panic attack” while officers allegedly raided their apartment, and her fiancé explained that he was a police officer. However, Sabri claimed everything turned out to be a mistake on the police’s part.

“All of a sudden it felt like I was in a movie and they went, ‘Cut,’” Sabri recalled. “And all of the people with their guns just put them down, and they were like, ‘Oh, sorry. That was [the] wrong person.’”

In a second video, Sabri said the entire incident remains unclear. But she believes they were victims of swatting, a form of harassment that involves making a false report to dispatch the SWAT team or armed police to an unsuspecting victim’s location.

Swatting has become a significant daily issue in recent years. The Department of Homeland Security notes that the hoax reports tend to target schools, government buildings, places of worship, businesses, and prominent figures, including celebrities, throughout the country.

Not only does swatting incite fear for the victims and create a potentially dangerous encounter with law enforcement, but it is also illegal. Depending on state laws and the severity of the crime, knowingly making false reports can result in either a misdemeanor or a felony charge.

The caller’s identity remains unknown

According to Sabri, an unidentified person called 911 using a fake phone number and claimed to have killed their father before threatening to take their own life. The person allegedly made noises suggesting they had a weapon, which prompted police to take action on the threat after the person gave Sabri’s address.

While Sabri knew who the apartment’s previous tenant was, she was unfamiliar with those who lived there before or the apartment’s history, which made her nervous about her situation. Sabri said their landlord also confirmed to officers that they were the current residents, which helped authorities identify the couple. “We still don’t know who this was. We’ve only lived in the apartment for two weeks,” Sabri said.

Sabri, however, felt that the ordeal could have been handled differently. “I kind of feel like once they figured out the names didn’t match, […] they should have ended it,” she said. “Maybe they should have detected that it was a fake call before they deployed people. Or maybe did some research on who lives in the apartment and who doesn’t.”

Many viewers felt that Sabri should pursue legal action. One viewer who claimed to be a detective said, “As a former detective, please sue. This sounds like gross negligence and it’s how people end up dead.” Another added, “I’d def expect compensation for some ish like that!”

While Sabri could potentially file a lawsuit over the mistaken identity, the Fourth Amendment does not mean that all wrongful arrests or detentions are automatically illegal. While the Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unlawful searches and seizures, it does not shield them from searches conducted under probable cause or from officers reasonably mistaking someone for a suspect, according to Rhodes Criminal Law. Sabri will also need to prove the officers willfully disregarded their safety, rights, and well-being to file a gross negligence claim.

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